‘I got into playing baseball, and the advanced programmes at my school opened up a bunch of stuff way more interesting than basic chemical reactions,’ Charlie explained, then buried her face in her hands. ‘I must sound like such nerd!’

‘No way,’ Harry said, liking her despite the weird circumstance. ‘It’s good to have a passion for something. Kids knock anything that stands out, but have no idea what they want themselves.’

‘True,’ Charlie admitted. ‘Not that it matters any more. JJ says he’s gonna admit to the bombing, but I still made the explosives. I should have ditched them, but that’s hard when you’ve put a lot of work into a project.’

Harry was amazed by the admission. ‘JJ used your explosives?’

‘JJ started being nice to me. So much so that my crazy-jealous sister, Fawn, accused me of wanting to screw him. But I guess he just needed to find where I kept the explosives.’

‘You and Fawn don’t get along?’

‘She’s so manipulative,’ Charlie said. ‘Grinds everyone down till she gets exactly what she wants.’

‘You’ve spoken to JJ since the bomb went off.’

‘Twice,’ Charlie confirmed. ‘I was suspicious right away. I wasn’t in school because my little brother has been sick. Rock Spring High is only two blocks from here, so I heard the explosion and started seeing posts online. As soon as I heard it was Deion Powell’s locker, I came down here to check. I’d hidden two watertight packs of explosive. One pack was gone, along with a tin of detonators.’

‘But why would JJ act so dumb?’ Harry asked. ‘He must have known he’d get caught.’

‘He was doing steroids to bulk up for the season,’ Charlie said uncertainly. ‘They can make you super aggressive. But I don’t care why he’s ruined his own life. It’s the fact he might have ruined mine too.’

‘That sucks,’ Harry said, too wary to offer physical comfort as Charlie propped herself on a little dining table.

‘Did you see my brother up at the house?’ Charlie asked, her voice wobbling. ‘I’m sorry, I never usually cry.’

As Harry got to his feet, he realised he was now closer to the gun than Charlie. He could grab it and run, but he was hooked on the revelations.

‘I heard a boy shouting and throwing stuff around your trailer,’ Harry said, deciding not to mention that the cops had bailed out of the trailer, complaining that the kid had shat himself. ‘Is he OK? You said you were off school looking after him?’

‘Ed’s ten,’ Charlie explained as she rubbed one eye. ‘His skull got crushed by the delivery forceps when he was born and he suffered brain damage. Fawn’s supposed to be his full-time carer. She gets eighteen hundred a month from Ed’s compensation fund, but she’s never home. She’s practically moved into JJ’s place.’